“Her Kind” by Anne Sexton
My first reading of the poem left me with a creepy feeling. The word “witch” conjured up thoughts of evil in my mind.
My second reading of the poem took me on a bit of an emotional roller coaster. In the first stanza, I felt a creepy feeling thinking about a witch moving through night. In the second stanza, feeling relaxed by the word warm as she talks about her home in the caves and preparing meals. In the third stanza, I felt a sense of strength as she talked about not being afraid to die. The poem appears to be written in the first person and rather a reflection of how she feels versus directed at someone. This was hard for me to fully discern.
A paraphrase of “Her Kind” by Anne Sexton
I have spent my time in town as a psychotic bitch, creeping unseen through the shadows where I feel safe. Controlled by my thoughts I moved one by one about the dwellings. Feeling detached from others and self. Not understood by peers. I was a woman who was viewed to be the same as you.
My home is secluded and safe. It is filled with the same necessities and valuables as theirs. My meals are prepared and not always received with grace. My role as a woman now seems misunderstood. I was a woman who was viewed to be the same as you.
My life was once like yours. Then the madness moved in and now it’s all one sees of me. I too can still be normal and carefree. I have risen above this disease. Only the effect of where I have been shunned by thee is where I pay the fee. I still have to live with me and this abnormality. I was a woman who was viewed to be the same as you.
The poet perhaps wants the reader to understand that of isolation. I’m not sure other than speculation why she wrote it. Perhaps, this was a way of self-care or healing for her. Though, I am familiar with her work and already know her therapist suggested this for her. What I appreciated about the poem was the rawness and exposure of dealing with mental illness and...